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Hundreds of anti-Wall Street activists who faced eviction early Monday from their eight-week-old encampment outside Los Angeles City Hall will be allowed to stay put until at least dawn – a police official said.
But police Commander Andrew Smith said demonstrators who continued to block downtown streets adjacent to the camp would be subject to immediate arrest.
The Los Angeles encampment is among the oldest and largest on the West Coast aligned with a two-month-old national Occupy Wall Street movement protesting economic inequality, high unemployment and the excesses of the U.S. financial system.

Occupy LA.

Wall Street protesters in Los Angeles defied the mayor’s early Monday deadline to vacate their encampment near City Hall, with about 1.000 flooding into the area as hundreds of tents remained standing as they have for nearly two months.
A celebratory atmosphere filled the night with protesters milling about the park and streets by City Hall in seeming good spirits. A group on bicycles circled the block, one of them in a cow suit. Organizers led chants with a bull horn.
“The best way to keep a non-violent movement non-violent is to throw a party, and keep it festive and atmospheric” – said Brian Masterson.
Police presence was slight right after the 12:01 a.m. PST Monday deadline, but it began increasing as the morning wore on. At the same time, the number of protesters dwindled.
“People have been pretty cooperative tonight. We want to keep it peaceful” – police Cmdr. Andrew Smith told The Associated Press.
He refused to discuss how or when police will move to clear the park, but he said – “We’re going to do this as gently as we possibly can. Our goal is not to have anybody arrested. Our goal is not to have to use force.”
Elsewhere, a deadline set by the city for Occupy Philadelphia to leave the site where it has camped for nearly two months passed Sunday without any arrests.
The scene outside Philadelphia’s City Hall was quiet most of Sunday and by early Monday the numbers of protesters — and police officers — had decreased.
Philadelphia’s protesters have managed to avoid aggressive confrontations so far. By early Monday there was still hope the City of Brotherly Love would continue to be largely violence-free.
In Philadelphia, about 50 protesters sat with their arms linked Sunday night as police ringed a city plaza.

Police in helmets and face shields with batons drawn blocked a downtown intersection near City Hall early Monday morning, blocking a group of Occupy L.A. protesters who had swarmed onto the street and vowed to stand their ground.
Some in the group began chanting “Back to the park!” an imperative many of the protesters seemed to follow.
So went the first hour after a deadline to clear the park outside City Hall passed as thousounds of Occupy L.A. supporters converged on the site where protesters have been camping for seven weeks.
The encampment is across the street from LAPD headquarters. The department was on tactical alert after the midnight deadline for protesters to get out of the park had passed.
Deputy Chief Jose Perez confirmed the tactical alert, which means that officers currently on duty are held over until they are released and police do not respond to low-priority radio calls.
Hundreds of protesters and supporters gathered at the Occupy L.A. site on the lawn of City Hall on Monday morning after the midnight deadline to clear out had come and gone, but no arrestes had been made.
Emilio Arreola (25) of Long Beach, said he has been camping at City Hall Park since the demonstration began seven weeks ago. He said people are tired of what they see as economic injustice on Wall Street.
“It’s what’s going on with these corporations, they way they take advantage of us” – he said,
Arreola said he had already packed his tent in his car because he feared police might destroy it. He said he was skeptical about the possibility of mass arrests.
The city had set a midnight deadline to close the park, setting up a possible showdown with demonstrators. But police were vague about when they would start evicting people.